The Baltimore Science Fiction Society, Inc. (BSFS) created the Compton Crook Award in 1982 to honor the best first novel of the year written by an individual author in the Science Fiction/Fantasy/Horror genre. Since its inception, the award has been presented at Balticon — the four-day annual Maryland regional science fiction convention produced by BSFS, currently held on Memorial Day weekend in the Baltimore, MD area.

Here are the finalists (listed in alphabetical order):

5 to 1 By Holly Bodger, Published by Knopf Books for Young Readers, Released 5/15/15

Owl and the Japanese Circus By Kristie Charish, Published by Gallery Books (Canadian Origin edition), Released 1/13/15

I Will Love You FOREVER (Protector Book 1) By Brian Groover, Published by Taproot, LLC (Createspace), Released 1/21/15

The Gracekeepers: A Novel By Kirsty Logan, Published by Crown, Released 3/19/15

The Thorn of Dentonhill: A Novel of Maradaine By Marshall Ryan Maresca, Published by DAW, Released 2/3/15

Beasts of Tabat (The Tabat Quarter) By Cat Rambo, Published by Wordfire Press, Released 2/20/15

Flex (‘Mancer) By Ferrett Steinmetz, Published by Angry Robot Books, Released 3/3/15

Enter the Janitor (The Cleaners, Vol. 1) By Josh Vogt, Published by Wordfire Press, Released 5/4/15

Updraft By Fran Wilde, Published by TOR, Released 9/1/15

It’s even more delightful to know that author friends and peers like Cat Rambo and Fran Wilde are on here as well, plus see books I’ve greatly enjoyed reading, such as Ferrett Steinmetz’s Flex. Congrats and good luck to everyone!